These pages come from the Index to the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory – also known as the Dawes Rolls or “Final Rolls.”
The Dawes Act of February 8, 1887, had allowed for a Federal commission to prepare new citizenship rolls for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma: Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. The Dawes Commission created rolls that list the names of individuals who were accepted as eligible for tribal membership in the “Five Civilized Tribes.” The Dawes Rolls record individual roll numbers and other pertinent information, including name, sex, and blood degree. The index lists each name and the roll number on which that person’s information can be found.
Those found eligible for the Final Rolls were entitled to an allotment of land, usually a homestead. The Federal Government used these registers to distribute 138 million acres of tribal land. After apportioning more than 50 million acres to Native Americans, the Government made the rest available to non-native peoples for settlement.
The first 11 pages of this document are shown. See all 640 pages in the National Archives online catalog.
